My adoration for office supplies is irrational, I know, but the idea of going “back to school” catapults me into a frenzy of panic and despair, so it’s only natural to forge something to look forward to. It’s like every fresh pack of ballpoint pens and every crisp new notebook is laced with some drug that empowers me with the superhuman strength to, you know, not whimper at the sight of regular responsibility. A full pencil box shields me from the anxieties of unpreparedness, an absolute necessity for making the transition back to school bearable.
With that in mind, an organized, well-stocked and aesthetically pleasing desk is nothing less than godly. Having a pretty, flat surface to work, think and read upon is much like being granted the power and freedom of a demigod; without one you can still survive as a functioning human being, but a good desk will grant you a potential for greatness otherwise impossible.
Adversely, a bad desk is a curse. Instead of dispelling distraction, harboring healing qualities and eschewing negative vibes like a good workspace should, a poorly designed desk will suck the passion, life and intellect right out of you, causing far more grief than enlightenment.
I fell victim to the Curse of the Ugly Desk sometime during my first few years of life. My parents took notice of my obsession for office supplies and got me a mini desk set one Christmas. Thrilled at the sight, I unleashed my hearty supply of gel pens, coloring books, crayons, tape and glue onto the poor, unfortunate plastic desk, engulfing it in the chaos of childhood creativity.
Even after 15 years and three desks, I never learned my lesson. Through most of my life, my desk was an oversized catch-all tray. Piles of loose paper ensured I would never see the clean, flat surface of my desk again. Random knick-knacks — like painted rocks, a robot piggy bank and an assortment of souvenirs from overseas — began weaseling their way onto the desk in a misguided attempt to add flair.
As badly as I wanted my desk to be my sanctuary, it leaned heavily toward a tangled creative hell.
This is an absolute tragedy, considering my growing affection for interior design. In the three years since I started college, my room has undergone constant renovation, growing more complete and stylish with every new change.
Through these years of wild re-embellishment, my desk, sadly, stood static. Nestled in the back corner of my room, no progress was really ever made to the desk in over five years. I tried rejuvenating the space, believe me. I swapped a more traditional black desk out for my brother’s old white art desk, thinking the minimalist design would simplify things and keep clutter to a minimum. Much to my dismay, the larger surface area and lack of structural organization led to only more clutter.
I unknowingly sentenced it to a life of exile, never to really be used again. It just sat, unused, for months. This arrangement worked for a little while. Taking summer semester off, there wasn’t much of a need for a decent workspace with the vast, glorious nothingness my schedule became. Once school started, however, the necessity for a good desk flashed back into view as assignments and worksheets began piling up. I needed that desk functioning and I needed it now.
So what did I do? I tore the desktop right up off of its legs, naturally. I couldn’t do away with the desk entirely. Through its previous and constant rearrangement, I struck an accidental balance in the layout of my room; a balance I feared would collapse with any other shape of desk. The top is a fat, white rectangle, simple in its design and with a depth that allows a distinct versatility to the desk’s layout.
With the legs gone, I had to make a quick trip to the haven of cheap home improvement to replace them: IKEA. Infamous for its expansive selection of build-it-yourself furniture, it was easy to find a chest of drawers for storage and a couple table legs to keep the desk propped up.
But that wasn’t enough. The drawers and drawers of storage space made possible by the IKEA cabinet solved the problem of clutter, but the flat white surface of the desktop still oozed with plainness. It yearned for dimension and depth, but most of all it yearned for style.
I needed to fashion some sort of desktop organizer that could section off the desk, add height to the surface, bring in interesting textures, and allow for thoughtful decoration. I started with an old wooden cutting board I found in my parents’ basement. The natural woodgrain of the board added an interesting, somewhat serene texture to the desk. It was a little wide for my taste, so I chopped off the curved edges with a table saw and sanded down the sides to finish it off.
Once the surface was done I decided to hot-glue some black ceramic shot glasses to the cutting board that would act as legs to prop the cutting board up, allowing some magazine storage space underneath. I topped the organizer off with a bonsai tree a friend graciously gifted to me for my birthday last month and a darker wooden bowl I picked up from a home store that could hold my writing utensils.
A good desk space is crucial for creating a healthy working environment. With a little effort and a dash of creativity, you can fashion yourself a desk that meets your functional needs without sacrificing vital aesthetics.
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